Tory Farina

Saturday Night Prayer

I am sitting here at the black sheep, which is surprisingly busy, With Hillsong blaring in my phones and my heart is anticipatory. I want to share with you my prayer for tonight. Join with me and maybe give me your prayers. The Lord inhabits the praises of his people even if those people are connected by a blog page in cyber space. Lets Pray...

"Lord, I sit in the heart of the Region of the City you called my to reach. Here in this coffee shop I pray that you would take the plan you are implementing up a notch. Kick it up a nother level. I know that their is more you have for this city. In the morning churches will convene and they will have seats available. I pray you would fill those seats. Fill High Point, Inver Hills, The Methodist Church, The Lutheran Churches, Fill The Vineyard and New Heights at the Community Center. Bless the churches in this region. God Bless the Pastors around the world that are preparing your word give them a fresh nuema from you. Let the anointing from Heaven fall on them as they speak. Holy Spirit I ask that your gifts would flow. I pray that people would be healed and set free from demons and evil spirits. I pray that this region of the city would become hungry... Deeply hungry for you. Let the atheist and agnostic know that you are real. Challenge the Prodigal to get up and out of bed for church tomorrow. God use the signs we have up and the invitation of a loved one. Fill this city with your presence. May people be drawn to your spirit.

God Help me to reveal a little more of who you are tomorrow. I pray we would see people turn to you. Respond to you. Renew their relationship with you. Have your way! Your will be done! Your Kingdom Come! "  -Amen

Did She Win?...

Miss Teen USA 2007 - South Carolina answers a question

Presidential History...

I thought this was cool... via toddand.com.

Message on a napkin...

I am working on a new way to prep for my message. trying to get my prep down to about 5-7 hours, I do a lot more and over bake the message. Here is the mind map my wife and I created. It is our first stab at it and we did it over lunch on a piece of paper the size of a napkin. Lets see how this works. She has way better writing than I do :) Thanks Babe for your drawing. Time to throw it in www.mindmeister.com or app.spinscape.com and Bring the heat this Sunday.

lost post...

I had a great post going a minute ago. It was about how I can't spell and how funny it is. I shared some stories from my childhood and listed out the words I struggle with. I lost it on accident. I hate losing posts. It is so hard to get the energy back to re type it. They are never as good anyways. suffice it to say that I posted the greatest post of my life but lost it due to hitting the wrong button and auto save on typepad not working yet.

I may try again but I think it is lost forever.

Lost anything you really cared for today? I want to hear about it.

Core Strength...

My abs hurt this morning a little. I have been having some back pain so I decided to get serious about strengthening my abs. I have been ripping them to shreds on my new sit up ball. My back pain can get pretty harsh. I saw a Dr. about a year ago and did an MRI thinking is might be serious but he told me it wasn't. He basically told me that because I don't work my core muscles enough I am out of balance and it pulls my back into pinching my nerve. He prescribed Yoga.

This morning on the way in Today, I was moving around and feeling the pain in my stomach and realized that the pain in my back was nearly gone. I felt like God told me, "Just like having your core in shape keeps you from being out of balance in your body, so does being in tune to the core disciplines of your faith makes all the other areas of life work better and more pain free."

What Core areas in your life do you need to work on?

• Study of the word of God?
• Prayer?
• Basic tenderness to the Holy Spirits Leading?
• Flee from things that are not beneficial?
• confession?

What core areas in your life need to be worked on?

Life is mental

I am convinced that most of life is mental. God designed you with a way of being. Talents and giftings. He in-filled you with his Holy Spirit and empowered you for service. Commissioned you to go and... But I see a lot of people including myself over think it and or try to be something other than who they truly are. We trust ourselves and others over the Holy Spirit.

What would it look like in your and my life if I trusted the Holy Spirit implicitly? If I did my do diligence and then left the rest up to the almighty? What would my life schedule look like?

• Their would be more time to do what energizes me and less time to do what drains me. I think I spend a lot of time trying to be "perfect" instead of trying to be "effective". Effectiveness is a far more attainable goal than perfection.
• I would be filled with more faith. less is more and less allows for God to show up and intervene. Not being sloppy or less planned but being more in tune with what God is trying to do in the moment. The moment could be in five minutes or five months but being available.
• I think I would ask others opinion less. If I trust the Lord Then I will trust the Lords leading in my life.
• I think I would prep a little less and feel from my heart a little more.
• I think I would Love deeper and enjoy people more.
• I think I would cute some waste out of my life.
• I think I would feel liberated in a lot of ways. 

I am working through how I live... trying to trust the Lord in more ways. See if you can see or recognize the changes in my life.

How would your life change if you trusted... truly lived like you trusted the Holy Spirits direction in your life.

Star wars fans watch now...

Star Wars Fans... Turn it Up and enjoy!

Weekend Mind dump...

• I had an interesting weekend putting this message together and then delivering what was my more challenging messages I have done in a while. It is always a deep feeling of vulnerability after you preach such a message. 
• I am realizing the value and importance of living with CONVICTIONS. I want us all to be people of Conviction!
• My fantasy teams did pretty rotten.
• Olivia has started to scream for no apparent reason. It makes driving fun. I hope it is just a faze.
• Winter has settled in. I can't seem to get warm.
• I bought a workout ball. One of those big balls that you work your abs on. It is fun to try and balance on it. Olive laughs as I fall over.
• I am scheduled to see 007 on Wednesday before it comes out. We will See if it all works out.
• Jeff Kirby is not doing well. He needs the Lord to do a complete healing. The Hospital is severely low on Platelets which Jeff needs several bags a day to keep him from bleeding. click here and register to give platelets.
• I am getting new glasses and am trying to figure out the best look. I think small dark and rectangle. Its been over five years since my last pair. Olive bent my current pair so its time for a new pair.
• I am thinking about the "end times", "Heaven" and what to say this weekend. It should eb a good message. we also have a baby dedication so it is kinda ironic we are celebrating new life and the end of this life all in the same day. All I know is this earth it not our Home. Heaven is our Eternal Home.
• Christmas Eve is gonna happen at the Movie Theatre. It should be pretty AWESOME! Sometime around 4:30 give or take. More details are to fallow. If you are in town bring the family and celebrate Christ with us.
• I'm kinda into "My own Worst Enemy." 
• I am totally addicted to twitter and would love to have you follow me and I follow you.

Words...

I said a lot this morning on a lot of things. I am not sure what got into me ;) I was nervous about all that I had on my heart to say. As a pastor their are weeks like last week when you preach as if you are in a zone and wonder if you will ever be as good and then weeks like today that you have a strong message to unfold. I keep running through this message and here are my thoughts.

• I went to long. I never go this long but I had a lot on my heart.
• I pray that people got the heart of what I was trying to say and not focus on the things that can distract them.
• I wish I could have given it a test run... maybe I should have. But it is also fun to preach it with initial in the moment passion. When we do a second service this will give me a chance to rework it between services.
• Alcohol is not the problem... lack of self control is.
• I am concerned that we may have people not come back because of it. I suppose that people have not come back for less important reasons. 
• Next week we will move on to something totally different but I think I could do a whole series on the role of responsibility we all have, the way we discern our actions for ourselves after reading scripture and What happens when we mess up.
• We are to live by faith. Faith that the Holy Spirit will do his part to lead us into right living.
• I got a lot of positive feedback. One guy said... "He preached the truth not opinion." I like that.
• Create in us a clean heart o God and restore in us the Joy of your salvation.